


defence is paper thin

by ineedhelpwithmylifern



Category: Spider-Man (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Angst, Felicia Hardy is Harry Osborn's Assistant, Inspired by The Amazing Spider-Man 2, M/M, Osborn Curse, Otto doesn't Die, another osborn curse fic i know, at least the osborn curse stuff and how that plays out it not that bad i promise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26554291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ineedhelpwithmylifern/pseuds/ineedhelpwithmylifern
Summary: Harry Osborn is in Europe, overseeing his father’s company. At least, that’s what everyone, especially Peter, thinks.But he’s stuck in New York, under Felicia’s watchful eye, with a curse that’s killing from the inside out and a lie that he’s digging himself farther into by the day.-Instead of hiding himself away to build the mech, Harry has the Osborn Curse, a genetic disease that is killing him a lot faster than it killed his father.
Relationships: Harry Osborn/Peter Parker
Comments: 8
Kudos: 47
Collections: The Parksbang





	defence is paper thin

**Author's Note:**

> And here's my entry for the parksbang! Geez this took a lot longer than I expected- also it ended up a lot longer than I expected- I didn't think I'd get to 18k let alone the required 10k!
> 
> Unsurprisingly, I'm writing about the osborn curse again, lol. It's good angst fuel, okay? geez gduyfsu
> 
> thanks to the people who kept me going and helped me through points- mainly letting me babble! this is for u i guess :)
> 
> title is from dashboard confessional's vindicated!
> 
> And a huge thanks to flubi for this beautiful art! [Tumblr](https://flubi.tumblr.com/post/629790056374272000/tfw-u-see-a-cat-art-for-defence-is-paper-thin) ao3 link is on the bottom 🥺

Harry was set to go to England in a week. His bags were all packed, his employees all knew and were expecting the leave, he had Felicia ready to take over any important matters that required someone to be face to face.

He just needed to meet with Peter before he started his journey of months.

Harry was sat in the café, fingers interlaced as his hands lay on the table. His drink was off to the side, forgotten. He hadn't told Peter about the trip yet.

The familiar chime of the doors opening had him turning his head. "Heya Pete," He smiled, raising his hand for a halfhearted wave.

Peter noticed him and waved back, making his way over to where Harry was seated. "What did you ask me here for?" He spoke, noticing the way Harry was acting off.

"It's probably a _little_ too late to be telling you this, but I'm leaving for Europe next week?" Harry didn't _mean_ for it to come out as a question, but then again, he didn't _mean_ to forget to tell Peter he was leaving.

Peter stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before managing to collect his voice. "You-You're leaving?"

"Next week," Harry confirmed.

"To Europe?"

"Yeah."

Peter licked his lips, "And you're telling me this _now_?"

Harry runs a hand through his hair. He knew this wasn't going to be an easy conversation. "I've just been really busy. Plans for this trip have been all over the place and I needed to set things up," He fiddled with his sleeve, curling it. "And you've been busy too, and this is the one time I can talk to you about it."

"A text would've been nice," Peter watched him quietly, something dying on the tip of his tongue.

"I thought it would be better if I told you in person, Peter," He shrugged, "I also kinda forgot and it snuck up on me before I could get to it."

Peter nodded, "What exactly are you going to do?"

Harry laid out the plans to Peter, all the places he was going to, to Oscorp buildings around the continent, to other companies to try and strike deals. It was going to be a long trip.

"You're only _sixteen_ Harry," Peter managed to get out, "You-"

"I'm going to Europe as the CEO of Oscorp. Not some sixteen-year-old kid."

Peter didn't say anything to that.

"Take lots of photos for me, please."

It was not even a day later when Felicia stopped him in the hallways of Oscorp after a board meeting, her face grim. "Mister Osborn," She whispered, "I need to speak with you."

Felicia Hardy used to be his father's assistant. When Harry took over as CEO, she kept her spot, becoming his assistant. Harry hadn't spoken with her as much as he'd like to yet, and the face she was making only made him worry.

"Alright," Harry nodded stiffly, and she guided him into his office. She walked up to the desk after the door closed and turned on her heel to face him.

"Show me your hands," It was a demand, her voice not wavering the slightest. " _Now."_ He held one of his hands out to her and she took it in her own, green eyes scrutinizing it.

_Green eyes that were a lot like Peter's-_

Harry shook the thought out of his head as she looked back up at him. "How long?"

"How long what?"

In truth, Felicia had always spooked Harry a bit. The way she held herself, the way she interacted with clients. It was done with this air about her that he couldn't quite place.

"How long have your hands been shaking like this?" She spoke in a way that caught him off guard.

How long had it been since his father had died? Everything since then has gone by in a blur, probably the reason Peter just found out about the trip.

They had begun to shake the slightest bit a week or two before his father died. At first, he thought it was maybe that he was a bit sick, but it stayed. It had gotten worse since then, obviously, enough for her to notice.

"Dunno," He supplied, "Before father-"

Felicia pursed her lips. "That long?"

Harry looked off to the side, slightly ashamed. Should he have found out what was wrong? Should he have looked into it?

She took his silence for an answer. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on you," She pushed her snow-white hair behind her ear and left his office. "You may be cursed."

Harry rubbed at his neck, a slight pain under his skin. "Cursed," He tested the word on his tongue, almost foreign.

_Him?_

_Cursed?_

_Impossible._

"You're staying here," Felicia stated, her arms crossed.

Harry had been doing paperwork and she had just... _Appeared._ He blinked up at her. "What?"

"You're staying here," She repeated, "You're not going to Europe."

He opened and closed his mouth. He didn't have much to say, did he? "Why?"

"Show me your neck."

" _What?!"_ He sputtered, but she only rolled her eyes and gave him a look.

"You _know_ what I mean, Mister Osborn," She growled, "Show me."

Harry sighed, pulling down his collar to show the angry green mark that had begun to fester on his neck. He hissed in pain as the cloth moved over it, but he spoke of something else. "Call me Harry."

"Alright, Harry. You're not going to Europe."

"Why not?" Harry hummed, shuffling papers on his desk. He needed to distract himself. "I'm supposed to leave _tomorrow._ "

Felicia shook her head, the look in her eyes unreadable, but so full of emotion. "I'm not going to let you die." Harry opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head.

"Your father... You're sick, Harry, and I cannot let you die," She gave him a small black box, "He called it the Osborn Curse."

Today was the day that Harry was set to leave for Europe. But instead of boarding a plane, he was in his father's secret lab, pouring himself over something other than paperwork for once.

Felicia sat down beside him, tapping at the tablet in her lap- one of the Oscorp issued ones, of course. She had dragged him to one of the glass tables that doubled as a computer and began to work on whatever she was doing now.

She hadn't spoken any more about the curse that she mentioned before she had walked off into the night and vanished into the hallways of Oscorp. It gave him no time to question her. Yet now, here she was, and he didn't try.

Which left Harry to figure out things himself.

The box she had given him had almost no specialty to it, it was just a black box with the Oscorp logo on it. Just a plain black box that fit in the palm of his hand.

Felicia kept giving him a look from the corner of her eye that Harry _kept seeing._ He groaned, putting his head in his hands, letting the box fall onto the table.

"You figured it out," She hummed, "Congratulations."

Harry moved his hands away from his face to glare at her, but his eyes trailed down to the table. The box had activated something on it, opening up a directory of information that Harry had never seen before on any of the servers. He looked back at Felicia, who had a sad smile on her face.

He had pride in himself for a moment, glad he was able to figure something out, but when he tapped on the first document, his mood plummeted. It had a long description of a disease called _Retroviral Hyperplasia._ His breath shook as he read the first few paragraphs.

_Retroviral Hyperplasia, also known as the Osborn Curse, is the disease that has plagued the Osborn family for generations. It's been kept tightly under wraps, to make the family seem strong and indestructible._

_The curse slowly takes over the person's body, destroying their immune system, along with a multitude of other symptoms. It starts with the twitch of your hands and continues with rotting green blemishes and more._

_There is no known cure for it. The time it takes to take over the body varies by person, one passing away years after first getting it, while another died within a few months._

The document had no author and he didn't want to know who wrote it. He closed out of it with a sigh. There were various other files, ones with weird and outlandish names, others with names of people in his family. One was titled 'Cure??? - list' but seemed like it wouldn't be of use.

He opened up a chart of known symptoms. Only two were on it. The hands and the blemishes. _Depends on the Person_ was written underneath and that was the end of that.

Harry picked up the box, narrowing his eyes at it. It held so many secrets, things he never knew about. Things his father should have told him.

He rubbed a hand against his bare neck. He wore no collar to separate his hand from the ugly green mark that was displayed. He hissed from the pain.

As he slowly began to realize what was happening, he held a hand to his mouth in an attempt to sway the tears. He didn't want to cry. "I'm-" He began, but he couldn't finish.

Felicia placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I-"

His phone rang.

Harry scrambled to answer it, Peter's happy voice coming through the other end of the line. "Hey, Harry!"

"Heya, Pete," He replied, chest tight.

"When does your plane leave today? I was thinking that I could come to see you off or something."

Harry looked to Felicia for help and she gave him a slight nod as if she was saying _tell him_. But something in the back of his mind told him no.

"Oh, Peter, I'm sorry, we're taking off in a minute or two."

Felicia raised an eyebrow at this.

"Already?" Peter sounded a bit sad, "Is there any way I could make it on time? Could you delay it for me or?"

"We're supposed to be going early today, I have a meeting," The lie slipped through Harry's lips easily. "We're already behind enough as it is."

"Oh."

"Sorry, Pete. I'll call you as soon as I land, alright?"

"Promise?"

"Yeah."

Harry had just lied to his best friend like it was nothing. Like _Peter_ was nothing.

"Fine," Peter hummed, "Sorry about that. Thanks, Har."

"Bye."

"Bye."

The line cut off, and the words that Harry couldn't bring himself to say came out as tears began to fall down his face.

"I'm dying."

"Who did you send in my place?" Harry shoved aside some papers, looking through his father's desk. It could never be his. This whole company would always be Norman Osborn's.

"Hm?" Felicia looked over at him from her place on top of the desk, her legs dangling over the side. The tablet was still on, displaying information about the trip and how it was going so far.

Harry peeked over the desk to look at her. "Who did you send to Europe in my place?"

"Jones," She hummed, and Harry almost glared at her. "Don't give me that look. I don't care if you don't like him, he's good at negotiating. He knows what he's doing."

They fell into a silence, though it wasn't uncomfortable, it filled up the room in an odd way. Harry pushed it away and spoke up, something that had been nagging at the forefront of his mind coming to light.

"You mentioned my father-"

"It's genetic," Felicia cut in, "He had it. Albeit a much, much, much later form of it, but yes."

Harry stood up. "For how long?"

" _Years_ , I'd assume. When he first hired me, he dropped all of his research on my desk, told me to sort it out, and walked away. I read through it all."

"What did you learn about it-"

"I don't know how fast it was moving for him, but I know he slowed it."

Harry seemed to perk up. "Do you know how?"

"I'm not going to subject you to what he did to himself," She shook her head, "There were so many experiments. So, so many."

He didn't know how to reply. It took him a second to find his words. "What did he do?"

"Last minute tests, chemicals, so much. I don't even know what worked and what just made it worse," She placed the tablet down on the desk beside her. "You- Have I ever told you how I got this job?"

Harry shook his head as she stood up. "No? I didn't think it would be extravagant or anything?"

Someone knocked on the door to the office, prompting Felicia to turn and make her way over.

"We need to move your office inside the secret lab," She chuckled drily, "You're in Europe, remember?"

A temporary desk had been dragged out of somewhere into the middle of the lab. It had been dusted off and most of the important paperwork that was stuffed within the main desk was thrown haphazardly on top of it.

This desk... Felt more like himself.

Harry sat down in the chair, an office chair which was much less expensive, and swiveled around to face Felicia. "So?"

She sat in her own chair, legs crossed. She raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"I was promised a story?"

She rolled her eyes playfully. "Alright, alright. It was a dark and stormy night-"

"Be serious," He whined, tapping his pen on the desk. Paperwork wasn't fun, nor was listening to her evade the point.

Felicia smiled before leaning back. "Well, I was 17, actually. I was hired when the curse was finally setting in for your father. With the speed _I_ was watching it progress at, he would have probably been bedridden or on his way there by now, possibly even, uh-" She gestured with her hands almost randomly. Running a hand through her hair, she sighed, "Anyway, I got to help him with a lot of experiments, I guess."

"Like?"

"Most of the curse stuff. It wasn't glamorous or anything. When I wasn't working on any of his 'special projects', it was mostly just paperwork," She paused, "I don't know how to put this..."

Harry raised an eyebrow in a questioning gesture. "Put what?" He waited for her to compose herself and begin again.

"He didn't hire me for paperwork," She turned the tablet on due to reflex then turned it off again. "He hired me for my... _Occupation."_

" _Occupation_?" Harry scoffed, playfully, "Like what?"

She hardly suppressed a smirk, but her tone was serious. "Do you know who Black Cat is?"

* * *

Harry was itching to leave Oscorp and go somewhere else.

Felicia simply rolled her eyes and told him that he should probably stay in- he was supposed to be in Europe, after all. He _was_ the one who had dug this hole.

So, he had taken to working on his Hobgoblin tech. Adjusting parts and fixing materials. Making the tough decision to sacrifice armor for mobility, starting to develop a sort of glider that came from his boots. He even had begun to put together a healing system.

And then there was the whole testing for a cure thing. Little by little, they would take samples of his blood and test on it. The cure was likely lightyears away and here they were, only testing. Medicines, plants, materials, all used to try and quell the curse's thirst, but to no avail.

Harry tried his best to ignore the failures.

And, of course, he was beginning to miss Peter.

He hadn't been able to convince himself to have a full conversation with his friend, whether it be over a call or text. The ever-present thought that he lied to his best friend like that nagged him.

He sent a quick 'hi'.

"Yes, I stole things for your father. Could you please stop pestering me about it?" Felicia glared at Harry from behind the computer she was using.

"He had money. It's mine now, but-" Harry bit his lip, "But- He still had money. Why would he ask you to steal things?"

"To stay under the radar," She rolled her eyes, "I don't understand how you're not getting this."

"I'm totally getting all of this," He crossed his arms and Felicia laughed a bit from where she was leaning against the desk.

"Oh, okay, sure," She smiled, "Finish up your paperwork. We need to get some testing in today."

"Alright, _mom,_ " He pushed away from the desk, standing as the chair rolled back. He suddenly felt lightheaded, and he pitched forward, everything fading to black.

"Harry."

"Harry!"

" _Harry!"_

His name being called was the thing that pulled him out of that inky darkness, it fading and making way to see Felicia's white hair.

Her expression was one of pure worry.

"What happened?" He spoke, feeling disoriented.

"Three years. Three years of working under _your father_ and _that_ was the scariest situation of this whole job."

"What happened?" He repeated, stronger this time.

"You fainted," She spoke, "I was luckily able to catch you before you hit the floor. I pulled out the couch."

Harry sat up, rubbing his hand against his forehead. He used the other to help stabilize him. She really did pull out the couch. "I didn't even expect that. How long was I out?"

"A few minutes," She shrugged, "We need to continue on the testing. I didn't like that. Not a good sign."

Harry nodded, opening his mouth to say something. But a buzz from across the room caught both of their attention. His phone.

Felicia looked at him and he shrugged, standing up more slowly this time. He made his way over to the desk, the phone sitting on the top of all the papers.

He picked it up and looked at the message. Or, well, messages. From Peter.

'Hi!'

'Sorry, I've been busy.'

And for some reason, it only made things worse.

"Well, if it isn't Harry Osborn," Peter picked up, grinning down at the camera, "The world-famous traveler."

"Yeah, as if overseeing the European operations of my dad's company is a vacation," He groaned, sneaking a look at the papers on his desk. He _was_ overseeing this trip and how Jones was doing his job, so it wasn't that bad of a lie. "Hey, I don't have much time, just called to wish you luck this year. Isn't tonight Horizon's back to school night?"

He _knew_ it was back to school night. He kept up with pretty much anything Peter he could. It was something that kept him quite sane during except for the other boy's escapades and Spider-Man.

"It might also be my farewell to school night," Peter sighed, looking dejected all of a sudden. "Classes start Monday, and if I can't get Spidey footage to sell to the Daily Bugle, I can't afford tuition."

Something in Harry broke. "I told you, Pete, I can help!"

"This is something I have to do on my own," Peter waved him off, "Uncle Ben taught me the importance of being self-sufficient. Besides, after all the trouble I've been through recently, the law of averages says that my luck has to change at some point."

Harry rolled his eyes as Peter's attention was called off elsewhere, "Whatever you say, Pete. Just know I'll help if you ever need me to."

"Maybe not today," Peter spoke, not noticing the other's statement, "Uh, Harry, I'm going to have to call you back."

He hung up.

Harry leaned back in his chair.

Peter was his best friend. The only person he ever really opened himself up to, and he still hadn't talked to him.

A lie was keeping them apart.

A lie to keep him from worrying too much about Harry.

Peter had enough on his mind. He didn't need to have more to juggle with his best friend dying from some disease.

And things really _did_ only get worse.

The curse seemed to be developing and spreading at a faster rate, the green sores beginning to grow and show up in other places; his arms, chest, legs-

The passing out wasn't a one-time thing either. It began to happen fairly often, and along with the fact that someone had almost caught Harry back at Oscorp, Felicia had decided to make the final choice.

"You're not going to stay at Oscorp any longer. You're going home."

He didn't try to resist.

They moved him back into the mansion within days, and with that, their studies moved as well. Felicia would come by every few days for more tests, busy as ever, considering that she took over most of Harry's duties at Oscorp.

He still had a lot of control over everything. She would swing by and talk to him over food or their tests, looking for his opinion and choices. He still did a lot of paperwork.

The worst part of it all was that he was stuck inside the Osborn Mansion, a place of his youth that even though it was his home, it seemed like a haunted house at times.

The walls sometimes seemed too imposing, too tall, too foreboding. It was all... Dreary.

It was never really a place he generally _liked_ to be. It wasn't where he wanted to hang around or spend much time in. He spent as much time as he could outside of it.

Even if it ended up only being an hour or two at most some days due to his Father's wishes.

It was also incredibly lonely. Other than Felicia doing her check-ins, there wasn't anyone to be with. He just had to spend his time with a game or a book or even that stack of paperwork that had been slowly growing. (And that he had been slowly beginning to ignore.)

Harry was lonely.

And he couldn't do much about it.

"Someone hacked into the Oscorp systems last night," Felicia spoke up while they were waiting for test results to come up, the computer drawing up conclusions.

" _What?!_ " Harry replied in a harsh whisper, "How-"

"We don't know how they got in and what exactly they got into. What I'm assuming is some sort of tech," She looked at Harry's panic-stricken expression. "I don't know exactly what that's for, but I can quell _some_ of that worry by saying that any information on your _condition_ is not in the Oscorp database. I've been storing it all on that black box."

The item suddenly gained a new weight in his hand where he had been holding it. "But they could have gotten into _anything._ We have so many dangerous things on file-"

"That if they found the wrong thing, we could be out. I know."

"What if they found out about the, you know," Harry stopped, biting his lip. They didn't talk about the mech. Norman had been building it, and Harry and Felicia had spoken about continuing work on it, to kick out the bugs. But it had all faded into the background as of late.

"Then we make sure that no one gets to it," Felicia affirmed, her lips pursed. "I took all the data of it off the servers. It has it's own system now, and a lot of how it will work in the future is hidden away. No one will know."

"Perfect."

Harry didn't want to bother Felicia to tell her that he was going out. She would advise him against it and try to keep him in the mansion. But if he didn't and she came in to see him, it wouldn't turn out the best.

He had no intention of causing a scene, he just wanted to get out. He wanted to stop at a cafe, have some food, and maybe, just maybe, talk to Peter.

It was going to be a video chat. And Harry had told Peter, over text, that there was a gap in between his meetings and he would have a chance to talk then.

He really missed Peter.

He sent Felicia the text that said what he was doing and he made his way downtown in one of the more nondescript cars that he owned.

There was a small cafe that wasn't very popular that he had used to frequent before everything. No, it wasn't Joe's, but it was something that Harry kinda had to himself.

He could've sworn that he saw a spider swing by while he was driving.

He sat himself down at one of the tables, making himself look like he was absolutely fine and that he _was_ in Europe.

Not that he was in New York or anything.

There was no lie here. Not at all.

As he scrolled through his phone, he took note of Spider-Man's recent escapades. The wake riders, huh?

As the time ticked closer to when they had planned, Harry just shrugged it off and called a minute or two early. What harm could that do?

"Hey, Harry!" Peter smiled as he picked up, and, _God,_ how much he had missed that smile. "What's this for? Unannounced?"

"Woah, Pete, didn't know you were a fan of the Wake Riders," Harry chuckled, "And don't you remember? We planned this like a week or so ago!"

"Oh. But, _you_ know about the _Wake Riders_ all the way over there in Europe?" Peter seemed exasperated, "Does everyone know about them except me?"

Harry chuckled, "You were never the trendiest guy."

"I am today! Apparently," His smile turned serious, "A question, though. Oscorp hasn't lost any Vulture gear recently, have they?"

"You're wondering if they stole it," Harry sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Look. Oscorp has had some break-ins since my dad died, but I _doubt_ it's them. Barkley Blitz is famous for making his own gear," He leaned back in the chair, "Don't turn this into something it's not. Just enjoy it."

The recent hack into the Oscorp systems crossed his mind. He mulled over it for a few seconds, then waved it off. As he said, Barkley Blitz made his own gear.

To be honest, the Wake Riders had been something that was keeping him somewhat sane. Something he could pay attention to while stuck inside like this.

"Maybe I will," Peter gave him a huge smile, the one he loved, and waved. "I have to get going. I've got school! Fun!"

"Yeah, Pete, have fun."

The seconds ticked by and Harry watched the clock in anticipation. Five minutes and he'd be 17.

Four minutes and he would be alone on his birthday.

Three minutes and he would feel that rush of regret of not telling Peter about everything yet.

Two minutes and he would have spent another year of his life surrounded by his father's standards.

One minute and nothing really would change.

The old grandfather clock chimed as it struck midnight, echoing around the room. His gaze lingered on the collection he had brought into the room, bottles of his father's old alcohol.

He reached out to grab one, his hand shaking as he did so. He started at the bottle in his grasp, the label depicting that it was a rather expensive brand. He turned it around, studying the glass.

His fingers met the cork, and he pulled it out, getting the strong scent of the drink. He recoiled, wondering if this was really worth it.

He decided against it and placed it down on the table in front of him, each one something he chose in memory of his father. The not very favorable ones.

A million thoughts rushed through his head as stood and collected himself.

Each bottle was a symbol of his father's reign over him. They were his father's like every other damn thing in this house. He could never be free.

He then picked another bottle and hurled it at the grandfather clock, which had stopped its chimes so long ago.

He threw another one, for the years he was pushed around, another for the silence, another for the manipulation. All until every single bottle he had collected lay in shards of glass and puddles of alcohol on the floor.

As he watched the clock continue to tick on despite the mess surrounding it, he wondered if he could ever escape everything his father had left him.

Especially this curse.

"Oh, Harry," Someone spoke, and as he opened his eyes, he noticed Felicia crouching down beside him.

"Hm?" He groggily sat up. It seemed as if he had fallen asleep on the couch sometime in the night.

She pursed her lips, "Happy birthday. Now clean up your mess or you won't get your birthday present."

He raised an eyebrow and then glanced over to the clock and the shattered glass. _Oh._ "Could I see my present first?"

"It wouldn't be safe," She snorted, "Clean up and I'll collect it for you."

He nodded as she left. Shaking off the oddity, he grabbed a broom and moved over to sweep up the shards. It smelled of the alcohol and he knew he would have to try and clean it up better than he was doing now to get the stains out.

He dumped the glass into the garbage when Felicia walked in with a pet carrier.

"What's that?" He asked, "I-"

"Shush," She chuckled, "A friend. Did you get it cleaned up?"

Harry nodded dumbly and she only nodded along, albeit in a less dumb way. She placed down the carrier and opened the door.

Harry placed the broom off to the side before he kneeled on the floor and peered into it.

Inside was a small grey and white cat.

"Who's this?" He spoke as the cat stared back at him with wide green eyes.

"He doesn't have an official name yet," Felicia said, "I saw him at the shelter and thought you needed some company. He's only around six months old. He used to be a stray."

Harry held out his hand for the cat and it came out a bit to sniff it. After deciding that Harry and the surrounding area was safe, the cat padded out of the carrier.

"There's something else I need to talk to you about," She continued, watching the two with a slight smile which had diminished.

"Alright," Harry spoke, still in awe of the animal that was currently exploring his kitchen tentatively.

"We're getting you out of here."

He was snapped out of his reverie by Felicia's statement. "What?"

"I've arranged for a new apartment for you," She spoke, "I've seen the way you look at this place. Even a cat won't change your opinion on it, whether you like it or not."

"But-"

"But nothing," Felicia shushed him, "I may have paid for the cat, but you pay for the apartment. It's under your name and everything."

He ran a hand through his hair, overwhelmed. _She's doing this for you,_ a voice in his head told him. "Thank you," He hugged her and she hugged back.

"I want to name him Spider," Harry confirmed, pulling away as the cat jumped up onto the counter beside them.

"Spider?" She grinned, "Does that name have anything to do with a certain hero?"

"For your information, no," He patted the cat's head, and it let "Thank you."

"You're welcome, I thought you'd like him," She placed a bowl on the counter, full of food. Spider quickly started to eat. "And a cat should _at least_ remind you of me. Not _Spider-Man_ , of all people."

"He has green eyes!"

"Since when did Spider-Man have green eyes?" Felicia raised an eyebrow. Harry's face went red and she let out a triumphant yell. "You _like_ him!"

"You're not going to ask how I know?"

"That doesn't matter, you like him!"

"Shut up!" Harry pushed her lightly, "And what about my new apartment?"

"Fine, lover boy."

"Happy Birthday, Har!" Peter yelled from the other side of the phone, his friends calling out their congrats. "You're seventeen already, man, like geez. You're older than all of us."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Not by much, you'll be with me in just a few months."

"But that's so far away!" Peter whined, "I really wish we were able to spend your birthday with you. We have presents to give you when you get back if that makes you feel better."

They _were_ close enough to celebrate together, even though they didn't quite know that. "Sounds like a plan," He smiled, "And hey, I've got a friend to spend my birthday with, and he's ten times better than you."

"What?" The sad expression Peter wore almost broke his heart and made him laugh simultaneously.

"His name is Spider," Harry continued, turning to beckon to his cat, "C'mere buddy." Spider jumped up into Harry's lap and looked straight into the camera with a meow.

"You got a cat?!"

"He's my present from Felicia."

"Felicia?" Peter echoed, "Who's that?"

"Your girlfriend?" Someone, probably Miles, jokingly called from the background with a curt laugh. Peter raised an eyebrow.

"No, no, not like that," Harry rolled his eyes, " _Never_. She was my father's assistant and now that I've taken over, she pretty much works for me. She's more like a sister than anything."

"So the little guy is in Europe with you?"

_Oh yeah._

He looked around at his new apartment, the view of New York from the wide window almost jarring. Felicia knew how to make it feel more like a home than the Mansion did.

"Yeah," Harry grinned, hoping the lie slipped off his tongue as easily as it felt, "He's probably going to do a bit of traveling with me as well, so we will see how that goes."

"So, where are my photos, Osborn?" The other asked playfully, his eyes gleaming.

Harry huffed out a sigh, "I've been so busy that I haven't been able to get out and do any sightseeing, sadly. So no photos on my part, Pete, sorry."

"Ah, it's alright," Peter hummed, "As long as I get photos of Spider along the way?"

" _That_ I can do."

"What if we like, find the fountain of youth, and you throw me into it," Harry said, kicking out so his chair would roll across the floor. "I'm giving you some _amazing_ ideas here, Felicia, the least you could do is at least think on them."

"Half of them aren't even possible, bud," Felicia countered, all of her focus on the thing she was working on. "We need to do something about this."

"You don't need to overwork yourself, we can take a break or something-"

"I've got this, Harry. I'm fine," She gave him a small smile, looking back down at the papers of data on the desk, "There _has_ to be something that we're missing. A plant, a mineral, an animal," She pulled one out, "Something with that healing quality that we need."

"You mean like Spider-Man's powers?" Harry questioned, and she turned her gaze to him.

"What do you mean?"

"He has enhanced healing. Though, I _really_ don't want to be bitten by a radioactive spider."

"Then we talk to him," She concluded.

" _What?_ No!"

"We find out how he got the powers- see if he still has that spider. If not, there's DNA. We can-"

"Then you'll have to tell him why you need it and I don't need New York's hero knowing that I'm dying!" He didn't want to let _Peter_ know that he was dying. Peter didn't need to worry.

She pursed her lips, huffing in defeat as Harry simmered. "Alright. I still will do what is best for you."

"Be my guest."

Black Cat climbed up onto the grated balcony of the hideout. She was finally there and ready to talk. The door was pulled down halfway and she took a breath, willing herself to go in.

She would find a spot to wait for the hero inside. It was better than just walking in when he was in there.

She ducked under the door, getting in, and looking around the small room. It was neat yet it looked like it was lived in.

She wasn't thinking when she didn't check if there was anyone there first, even though she knew that she should've. That's why the next few moments were startling.

"Felicia. Welcome to the Spider's nest." A voice sneered and she _knew_ it wasn't the spider. She turned her gaze to wherever it came from, and lo and behold-

"Octavius." She breathed.

"Still working for Osborn, I'd presume?" He drawled, putting away whatever he was working on and turning his full attention to her.

Otto Octavius was one of the few people who knew she was Black Cat. When he had worked for Norman, she had run into him quite a few times, and there were 'missions' that she was sent on with either him in tow or behind the scenes.

"And you seem to be working with the spider," Felicia countered, not wanting to give anything away about what was going on.

"What are you here for?" He continued, leaving the question 'How did you find this place?' unasked.

"I need to speak with Spider-Man," Felicia stood, "And it doesn't concern _you._ "

Octavius raised his eyebrow, "Well, I'd assume it should, as _I_ am the one who knows him."

She bit her lip, looking off to the side. Octavius would not, _could not,_ know about this. "It doesn't. If I am not allowed to stay, I'll be on my way."

Otto put his hand out as if gesturing for her to take a seat. "That is not necessary, Spider-Man will return shortly. Either way, I would like to know your intentions."

Felicia frowned, wrinkling her nose. "I've already made myself clear that it doesn't concern you."

Octavius leaned back in his chair with a scowl. "It does when Spider-Man is involved. If you need to speak to him, you can speak with me as well."

"This is _private._ "

"Then take your Osborn-related business elsewhere."

" _Harry_ needs him," Felicia blurted out, almost unknowingly. "He just wants to see him." She added as an afterthought, all of her senses telling her to _stop_ , to _get out_.

" _Harry_ Osborn needs Spider-Man, hm?" Octavius sneered, making her take a step back.

She matched his expression. "Just tell him that I'm looking for him."

Black Cat ducked out under the door and into the city. She needed to get out for a bit, and a little mischief was something that could easily be achieved.

Otto Octavius- Doc Ock- was working with Spider-Man.

"Welcome back, Peter. I hear Osborn is looking for you."

Peter's welcome is unexpected as he comes through the entrance to the hideout, spider suit and mask donned. "What?"

"His _assistant_ came in here looking for you," Otto spoke, watching Peter with an air of distaste. "Well, _Spider-Man_ you."

"You mean Felicia?" But she was Harry's assistant, and his only one, right? And wasn't she in Europe? "Why was she here?"

Anyway, Harry was in Europe as well. Why would he need Peter? Why would Harry's _assistant_ need Peter?

Otto waved his hand, brushing off the subject, "I took care of it. They got what they wanted from here."

"Did they take something?"

"No, they just needed to speak with someone who knows you, and I took care of it."

"Harry knows I'm Spider-Man, though. Why would he send someone for Spider-Man and not me?" Peter turned his gaze to Otto.

"That is beyond my current knowledge," Otto hummed.

Peter tapped his fingers on his lips. "I-"

"For all you know, it could have something to do with your _Goblin Nation."_

"God, I hope you're wrong."

Harry was getting worse. So, so, so much worse. There were times he couldn't move, couldn't get out of bed.

She didn't know what to do.

They were nowhere near anything that _vaguely resembled_ a cure. And she probably wouldn't be able to pull one together in the time that she had left.

As she stepped into their small apartment, Spider gave her a small yowl as he bounded up to her. She crouched down to pet the cat, cooing at him.

Spider never left Harry's side like this. She stood and peered around the room, holding her breath. Things spun in her mind, but she wasn't quite ready to face them yet.

She walked into his room, knocking lightly on the door before she entered. "Harry?" She called, her eyes trailing to the bed.

He leaned his head to look at her and smiled. He pushed himself up into a sitting position, a groan in his throat.

She rushed over to his side, helping stabilize him. "Harry."

He didn't respond, heaving a breath.

Felicia hugged him, "Harry, please."

"My father, he-" Harry began, but a knock on the apartment's door cut him off.

"I'll get it, Harry, just stay here," Felicia leaned him on the bedrest. He nodded weakly and she sighed.

She closed the door to Harry's room most of the way, just enough so Spider could get in and out.

And then when she opened the front door she couldn't help but scowl.

"Octavius," She raised her head, "And why are you here?"

He matched her expression, "For Harry Osborn to have been in Europe for so long, he should have left the country a long time ago. I see that he still is in New York City."

"Why are you here?" Felicia repeated, her words slow.

"Osborn needed to see Spider-Man. Spider-Man is busy. I will be seeing him instead."

"I'm not going to let you in," She tried to push the door closed, but he held it open.

"You are letting me in, lest I tell everyone about him still being _here_ , hm?"

She gave in and fully opened the door with a sigh. "Are you coming or not?"

Otto stalked in, looking around at the room. "Surprised that the heir of Oscorp isn't in his mansion."

"Too many bad memories," Felicia hissed, "It was better to get him out of there in his current state."

"His current state?" He raised an eyebrow, "What-"

"I have to tell him that you're here first. And make sure that you have the permission to talk to him," She turned around, making her way back to Harry's bedroom. Spider rushed past her, into the living room. "Harry," She whispered, and Harry looked up at her with glittering eyes.

She took a breath. Octavius was _not_ on Harry's good side. But, he was the only way to get to Spider-Man, and Harry said that she needed the hero.

"Someone is here to see you."

"Peter?" Harry asked, the glittering eyes looking slightly hopeful in the dark.

"Not Peter, I'm sorry," She turned on the bedside lamp, "Otto Octavius is here for Spider-Man."

Harry sat in silence for a moment. " _Him._ "

"He's here in Spider-Man's place. Is it alright if he comes in?"

A slow and tentative nod. "Yeah."

Felicia had looked out of the room to beckon Otto in when she noticed the small predicament that he was in.

"Well, well, well, I didn't think that the great Otto Octavius was afraid of a kitten?" She teased.

"It's giving me a death glare. And considering that _you_ are a cat-themed villain, it's probably conspiring against me," Otto was staring down at Spider, who only stared back.

"He's just protective of Harry," She hummed, crossing her arms. "I can't really control what he does. As long as you don't upset Harry too bad, you'll be alright." With a wave of her hand, they walked into the room, Spider bolting in first, curling up at Harry's side.

Felicia turned on the lamp on the bedside table and set out two chairs, sitting down in one of them.

"Octavius," Harry snarled as a greeting as Otto took the other chair.

"Osborn," He replied, raising his head.

"I wouldn't expect Peter to stoop so low to begin to work with the likes of you," Harry's words stung. As much as Felicia would've like to cut in and tell him to not do so, she knew it wasn't her battle to fight.

"And yet I'd expect you to stoop so low to work with _her,_ " Otto bit back. _That kinda hurt._

"Why are you here?" Felicia cut in, hoping to dispel the tension of an oncoming argument.

"I'm here for Spider-Man," Otto growled, "And it seems like that's a good idea, as Osborn here has been lying this whole time."

"I haven't-" Harry began, but Otto cut him off without hesitation.

"You've been lying considering your whereabouts to Peter for the last few months, he thinks you're in Europe."

"He thinks that I am _perfectly healthy_ and _not dying._ If he's not worried about me, everything is alright."

"You're dying?" Otto's surprise was unhidden.

"Why else would I be lying to Peter like this? God, I-" The way that he crumpled against the pillows seemed like he was almost giving in. "I know I've been lying to him. And I know that now I'm in too deep to get out of it.

"I'm not going to put something else on Pete's plate, he's got enough trouble as it is. His best friend dying isn't going make anything better, you know it'll make it worse," Spider curled up closer to Harry as if he would protect him more by doing so. "What's going to happen when I _do_ die, then? Peter learning he maybe could have helped at some point? What am I supposed to do?"

"First off," Otto breathed, "You're not going to die."

"How do you know? You don't even know _how_ I'm dying," Harry retorted, his hand moving to pet Spider.

"I took a walk in our friend's shoes. I know when I should try and help."

"Alright Octavius, what's your big plan?"

"So Otto still isn't back?"

Peter turned around, his eyes catching on Anna Maria. She had opened the door to the hideout and it looked as if she had just come back from grocery shopping.

"What do you mean?" He asked, putting down the lenses that he had been working on.

She dropped the bags that she was holding onto the counter with a huff. "He said that he had important things to attend to and vanished earlier today. I'd assume he would have been back by now, but I guess not."

"Really?" Peter hummed, "I just got back from patrol, so I wouldn't have known." He moved to help her put away the groceries, grabbing the refrigerated items.

"Yeah. He kinda just dropped off the face of the Earth. I wouldn't be worried until like tomorrow, though. You know how he is. He finds a project and latches on without paying attention to what's going on around him."

Peter nodded with a smile. He looked down at his feet for a second before sighing. "The Goblin Nation."

Anna Maria gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"The Goblin Nation." He repeated.

"And that is?"

"I don't know exactly what it is, but it seems to be some sort of army of goblins. They've been using Harry's goblin tech."

"That's surprising, do you know how they might have been able to get ahold of it?" She put a few cans in the cupboard.

"I don't know, and I'm a little worried about Harry himself, even though he's in Europe," He leaned against the counter, "Otto doesn't quite believe me that I was attacked by one, though."

"Do you have the footage?"

"Yeah, but-"

"We can take a look at it and I'll see what I can figure out," Anna Maria said, digging into another bag.

"Thank you," Peter grinned, turning to go and grab his mask.

"Always, Peter. Don't leave though, you started helping and you will help me _finish."_

He grinned sheepishly, "Sorry."

"So..." Otto began and Harry rolled his eyes.

"So?"

"Well, considering half these tests have a similar concept in mind- both your father's tests and yours, we should branch out a little bit," Otto waved the papers around for emphasis and Spider attempted to bat at them. He glared at the cat who only glared back.

"Branch out?" Harry stood beside the bed, holding onto the post, "What do you mean by that?"

"As in, find something that can keep it in stasis while we search for whatever will stop it completely," He pointed at one of the papers noting a few tests that had nulled the diseased cells for a good few moments, up until it ended in disaster, the sample dying out not too long after.

"A temporary healing process," Harry nodded, "Like my Hobgoblin suit."

"What about it?"

"I've been tinkering with it while I've been holed away for so long. I did my best to create a sort of... Mechanism... That would heal me during battle. It can only really focus on one thing at a time, but-"

"It may be able to keep it at bay," Otto willingly supplied, and Harry grinned.

"Bingo."

"I don't seem to _see_ anything," Anna Maria mused, looking at the paused screen.

"I'm telling you, a goblin was there," Peter protested, gesturing toward the screen. "I'm not _that_ good of a mime."

"I'm not saying you're lying or wrong or anything, but there has to some reason we can't see them," She leaned back in the rolling chair, "They might have some sort of cloaking tech that prevents them from appearing on camera or recordings."

Peter froze. "I heard once that Norman Osborn was working on some personal stealth technology. What if it is Norman?" He ran a hand through his hair in a moment of silence. "If there's even a chance that he's still alive-" He drummed his fingers on the desk, thoughts racing.

"You'll-?" Anna Maria tried to get him to continue.

"I need to make a call."

"Same armor, same goblin tech, down to the last detail," Peter's voice came through the phone, the call unexpected.

"Peter, you and I both know my father is _dead."_ Harry hissed.

"All I can say for certain is that I fought a _goblin_ last night, and there have been more." Peter sounded worried. "Who were under the masks? I don't know."

"How could anyone get that tech? Remember when half the Oscorp building blew up? My goblin tech designs went with it." He tapped his fingers on the railing of the balcony, staring down at the city below.

"But were those the _only_ copies? You started your goblin designs at Horizon."

"Oh no, Peter, you might be onto something. If any of my info is on the Horizon server-"

"I'm gonna go check it out right now," Peter affirmed as if that would calm Harry.

"If someone- anyone- is using goblin tech that _I_ created, I'd better get back to New York. I'll be wheels up in twenty. See you soon."

He hung up and sighed, his head hanging.

What was he going to tell Felicia?

Now he promised to go see Peter, great. He absentmindedly scratched at some scarring that had begun to spread under his eye as he gazed down at the traffic. What would Peter even think?

He stood up straight, using the railing to steady himself. His mind was running through several situations, all including Peter's reaction to the curse and being kept in the dark about it. None of which were good.

Now, who could these goblins be? Who was lurking around New York using _his_ tech? There was so, so much to unpack and he could tell that they were only scratching the surface of all of this.

The chill that ran through his spine when the thought of his father being alive was evidence enough that he should figure that out first.

He managed to make his way back into the apartment, Spider yowling up at him for attention. Otto sat at the desk in the corner of the room, looking over the Hobgoblin gear.

"I'm going to need that," Harry spoke confidently and the other spun around in the chair.

"The suit? What for?"

"Peter. He's talking about some sort of Goblin Nation using my tech, and-"

Otto shook his head, "We don't even know if it'll work. You're not going out there in this condition. The spiders, and in extension, I, can take care of this group ourselves."

"What if this has something to do with my father?!"

"Norman Osborn is dead."

"But- It's _my_ tech. Shouldn't I at least _try_ to do something about it?" He grabbed the suit and turned on his heel. He didn't care if Otto noticed the way he limped or the way he tripped over his foot.

"Harry-"

"This is my business. And I'm going to help."

"The Osborn Family Tomb," Harry whispered, shining the flashlight up at the stone building. The Hobgoblin suit was helping him move and he felt much more... Free. Healthy. Happy.

Otto stood beside him, the mechanical arms holding him up. "Alright, you got your fill of adventure, let's get going. I don't want Felicia yelling at me-"

"Otto, please," He glared at his companion, "I just want to get a closer look."

"You know that Norman and I-"

"Were not on good terms. I know. You can stay there, I just need to look at this- Oh God."

"What?"

The lock on the doors of the tomb had been bashed open. Someone had broken in. Harry pushed open the doors, no key needed. The crypt was open and stairs descended into a dark tunnel.

Something was horribly wrong.

The sun gleamed down on the Hobgoblin armor as Harry waited outside the tomb for Peter. He donned the mask, not willing to let the other see the scars of the curse.

They wouldn't be the sickly green due to the healing properties of the suit, but there would be questions from his friend all the same.

Harry had tried to convince Otto to go down with him, but the unspoken problems with Norman kept him from coming. So Harry had to collect Peter instead.

It felt wrong meeting up with Peter again like this. The two of them should meet face to face at Joe's over a smoothie. Not both, fully suited, in front of Norman Osborn's tomb.

Harry took a deep breath as he leaned against the concrete wall of the tomb. The advanced healing may help, but it drained him quickly-

"Hey, Harry."

"Pete!" He jumped up to see Peter, full spider suit, ready to go. He hadn't seen him approach.

Peter stood awkwardly, rubbing his arm. "This is an odd place to finally see you-"

"I'm sorry that it has to be like this, but I have to show you something."

Peter was holding back saying something again as he nodded.

Harry walked up to the doors. "Someone broke in. At first, you'd expect it to be someone looking for loot. It wasn't. Come on," he gestured to the bashed through lock as he pushed the door open. "You know that they never found my father's body after the blast, but-" They walked in and Harry shined his phone light onto the ground, illuminating a collection of dirt smudges on the floor. "These footprints seem to be about my dad's shoe size.

"And the memorial crypt was already open," Harry stood up and shined his light down the stairs, "I saw these and called you as soon as I was somewhat equipped and ready. It's kinda freaking me out."

"Have you gone down there yet?" Peter asked, his arms crossed as he looked down.

Harry sighed, "I needed backup before I could enter. And it all seems to indicate one thing-"

"That your dad is still alive," Peter finished and he only nodded.

"As you said, he might be the person behind all these dangerous new goblins."

"Well," Peter stood, the eyes on his mask narrowing, "There's only one way to find out. Let me go first," He began his descent down the stairs ahead of Harry, "If there's one thing I've learned about secret tunnels, they're often full of-" He stepped down into the darkness, and something began to glow, the sound of something arming itself echoing. "Booby traps!"

As Harry got down beside Peter, the hero was already trying to disarm whatever was attacking them.

"Laser traps?" He yelled, "This is definitely your dad's style!"

Harry began to call out passcodes, anything that came to his mind in order to stop the attack. As he slowly failed to guess it, his energy was beginning to deplete from dodging.

"What was that?!" Peter yelled, as the lasers disarmed, "That was... Fortunate..."

"My dad has a ton of passcodes-"

"With laser tech and a secret passcode, your dad must've not wanted anyone to find what's down here..." Peter spoke looking at one of the weapons.

"Let's go," Harry grumbled, walking farther into the tunnel, hoping Peter wouldn't notice his slight limp.

"Otto?" Felicia pushed open the door to the Spider's Nest, calling into the hideout. "Otto are you here?" Her heels clicked on the stone floor as she entered, files in her arms. "Otto!"

"In here!" He called back, and she turned the corner to see him glowering at his computer screens.

"What's going on?" She hummed, standing behind him.

"I am attempting to speak with the female spiders and they will not listen to what I'm saying. I-"

"The _female spiders?"_ Felicia snorted, putting the files down on the desk. "No wonder they won't listen to you."

"This is serious!" Otto exclaimed, crossing his arms. "They do not believe that I am working with Spider-Man. They think I have hacked his spider-bots. All I need is their help to follow Harry-"

"Harry." She pursed her lips and looked at the screens, each a display of what the bots were seeing. And of course, standing in front of them were Ghost Spider and Spider-Girl. "May I have a word with them?"

"Yes, let me-"

"As soon as I have a word with you," She muted the computer. Otto nodded and her tone went grave. "Where is Harry, exactly?"

"I don't know where he could be-" He started but she cut him off.

"You do know. You were the last person with the Hobgoblin suit. You would've had to _give_ it to him," She sighed, taking a breath. "His vitals have lowered already. The suit's healing capabilities aren't on par with what he thinks."

Otto put his head in his hands. "He went with Spider-Man to take a look down in the tunnels under his father's tomb."

Felicia licked her lips, nodding. She took Otto's headphones and unmuted the computer. "Alright you two, I have a sick kid to rescue and I'm going to need your help."

"You... Aren't mad about Ock?" Peter spoke slowly as they walked side by side down the tunnel, their footsteps echoing.

"Oh, I definitely am, and I am going to have a word with him, but-" Harry dragged his hand along the wall, "People learn. Though it took a lot for him to learn through your mind of all places."

Peter paused and looked at his friend for a long moment. "You're being awfully level-headed for once."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry spoke back defensively and he had to laugh.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding."

"Although, Otto did try to kill you and steal your life and body all at once. Why friends?"

"We're similar. So similar, yet raised so differently," Peter stopped, crouching down and looking at spotted footprints on the floor. "We're on the right path."

"Was it Ock then, that got incredibly aggressive?" Harry's voice cut into Peter and he shrugged.

"Yeah, it was him. I can't say I approve, but, yeah-"

"What's that noise?" Harry spoke over him, slowly and quietly. The sound was coming from not that far ahead, bouncing off the metal walls. "After you..."

"Thanks."

"See, they will not listen! They are not going to help just because _you_ spoke to them!" Otto glared at the fuzzy screens. "They destroyed each one that came into their sight!"

Felicia glared at the last one that had a clear feed. "Do you think they'll listen to Black Cat?"

" _Another_ villain?" He scoffed, "Felicia, they could not listen to me, and though you are not as high on their list, they will not follow a villain looking for yet another villain. A league of villains. Like they'll help."

"As you said, I'm not as high up on their list as you," She grabbed something out of her pocket. "They might help if I tell them that I know where Spidey is. And leave out the fact t that I am looking for Harry."

"They are looking for Spider-Man..."

Felicia put her mask on with a grin. "And if they don't follow along, I can easily cause some mayhem." She placed a hand on her hip. "You keep following them and I'll follow the signal of your bots."

"God, I wish we could turn the lights on," Harry hissed, his voice wavering. The lights in the tunnel flickered on and the eyes of his mask glared at them. "Lights off. Lights on?" The lights did as he commanded and he only glared at them longer.

"They're controlled by _your_ voice," Peter spoke, noticing the weakness but not speaking up about it.

"I can tell." He grumbled, "What the hell?" He looked around the room, yelling at the lights to turn on and off repeatedly.

"Harry."

Finally stopping with the lights, he didn't respond and kept walking down the tunnel, leaving Peter behind.

"Harry, what's- This is strange, Harry." Peter watched Harry go down a more slanted section of the ground.

Harry turned back and the glowing eyes of his mask stared into Peter. "I find all of this strange."

"There's something you aren't telling me, Harry," Peter tried and Harry scoffed.

"Not new for you I guess- a new comeback-"

"You've been down here before."

"How could you say something like that, Pete? I've never even seen this place, I know about as much as you do!" The worried tone in his voice was painfully obvious and Peter cursed himself for not finding out sooner.

"Really? First the passcode for the lasers. It's rather convenient but, hey, it isn't impossible. Then, when you were talking earlier, you mentioned knowing that the E-Train was down. _While_ you were apparently in Europe. Okay, you coulda seen it online," Peter crossed his arms, "But now the lights work under _your_ voice command, and if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were lying to me and now leading me into a _trap_!"

"A _trap?!"_ Harry seethed, "Why would you- I promise, it isn't."

"But you've been down here before." Peter watched him clench his fists and then visibly shrink in on himself.

"I've never been down here. I checked the tomb out last night with Otto. But I didn't go in!" He stood still, looking like he was trying to keep calm, his breathing abnormal.

"Otto? What's going on here? What aren't you telling me?!"

"Sure I may not have been in Europe like I said. After my father died, I stayed in New York. Felicia said I was digging myself into a hole that I wouldn't be able to get out of by not telling you!"

"You _have_ been lying to me this whole time!" Peter couldn't help the short burst of anger at the words, watching the emotionless Hobgoblin mask.

"No! Well, yes! I didn't want you to worry! If I just said I was leaving and Felicia and I fixed this whole mess while I was 'gone,' nothing would be a problem and you would never know!" Harry began to shout, the echo of his words carrying across the walls.

"Know what, Harry? That you've created something absolutely horrible? That it could end New York in seconds if given the chance?!" Peter yelled back, his mind swirling through countless possibilities.

"No!" Harry froze dead in place. " _Fuck._ The hack. The data, oh _God-_ " He freed himself from the momentary stasis and ran down the tunnel leaving Peter long behind.

"We're getting pretty close to wherever this signal is leading us. I'm pretty proud of us." A voice spoke happily, presumably one of the girls.

"I knew we could do this," Another voice congratulated, "Pretty soon, people are going to be calling Spider-Man _our_ sidekick."

Black Cat sat on the fence behind them, her new prize resting in her hands. She grinned as the first one, Spider-Girl, looked down at her wrist and found her precious goblin tech missing. "Ladies," Black Cat began, "Looking for this?" She held up the taken item and both of their faces were priceless.

"Black Cat!" Both of them exclaimed.

"How did you-" Ghost Spider sputtered, apparently sitting dumbfounded, looking between her friend and the cat.

"I'll never reveal my secrets," She chuckled, waving around the piece of tech, "I guess this is what you get when you don't want to help."

" _You're_ the person working with Ock?!" Spider-Girl spoke up, "What-"

"Believe me, if he wasn't working with the Spider, the _good_ one, I would have steered clear of him long ago," Black Cat hopped down from the fence, "But as you two decided not to listen earlier, I'd like to say that I have been taking care of a sick kid and he's gotten himself into quite a mess. I need your help as it's Spidey who's with him."

"And why would we-"

"I have your precious Goblin Gear."

Ghost Spider crossed her arms. "Fine, if you promise to not cause any trouble, we'll help you out. We want to find this base first."

"Then I'll lead," Black Cat walked under the bridge, hoping the other two would come along.

Harry ran through the tunnels, losing stamina quickly. Peter had taken his lies and twisted them into something much worse in his mind. Him mentioning the fact that he wouldn't put it past Harry to create something devastating both made him panic and brought something to the forefront of his mind

_The mech._

It laid forgotten, abandoned, in the secret lab back at Oscorp, and if someone ever found it- It would most certainly be catastrophic. If it even worked.

The hack into the Oscorp systems could have easily revealed his father's project. And if that was what they were after- He hoped the shiver was from the thought of it being used.

As he stumbled into the obvious end of his trail, he realized he had opened a larger can of worms than he had first expected. The room almost seemed like a factory for _his_ goblin tech.

"This is enough tech for an army..." He stepped back, recoiling, at the mere thought of his tech being used for that...

"An army?" Someone laughed, and Harry whipped around to look at them. "Try a nation!" They were clad in his goblin armor, and a swarm of goblins all surrounded them in defense.

"Dad?" He whispered, the thought of his father returning making his stomach flip.

"I should have figured that you would eventually find me, Harry. You were always a smart kid." The figure descended to his level to look him in the eyes. "But bringing Spider-Man here, into these tunnels? That's an unexpected bonus."

Harry fumbled for the switch on his communicator, hoping that at least it would be able to reach someone, even Peter. Maybe even Felicia if he was lucky. "Someone- Peter, anyone, help. There's a factory, goblin tech, under my father's tomb. There's a Goblin Nation-"

"The time is now at hand," Harry was grabbed by the main goblin, their voice booming to the others in the room, "For the goblin nation to rise!"

Cheers rose around the group, congratulating themselves, happy for these goblins to have power.

Harry felt himself grow weaker by the second. "You can't be alive..."

"Peter- factory- nation- help-" Harry's message crackled through the communicator and Peter had no choice to quicken his pace, going in the direction Harry had run.

He had not chased after him to give him a moment to calm down, perhaps, but he could already tell that it had been a bad idea.

"You're not Norman Osborn, are you?" Peter growled, staring up at them.

Laughing, the Goblin King put away the sword. "Do you think _Norman Osborn_ could have succeeded in all of _this?_ " They gestured to the area around, and the rest of the goblins laughed. "Oh, he was smart, but he was not _me!"_ They removed their mask to reveal-

"The Vulture-" Peter whispered, and Harry stood up out of his arms.

"Adrian Toomes?" He clenched his fist, "So my dad really is..."

"Who cares if he's dead or not," Adrian scoffed, "Osborn's stock and trade was secrets, but it didn't take much work to discover that he had hidden this tunnel system and lab under the family tomb! How befitting considering that I was in need of a place to run my factory!"

"All of this for what, power?" Peter yelled, glaring up at the man. "Revenge?"

"My goal is simple. Make the world respect the name Adrien Toomes for my brilliant work. Osborn _exploited_ me, working for him destroyed my name! But with Spider-Man, destroying the big-name criminals of this city, it created a void of power. One that only I could fill!" Adrien held a hand into the air. "Now I'm showing the world that Icouldfodo everything Osborn could! And more! All of his attempts at conquest failed. But mine? You'll never take New York back from Adrien Toomes!"

"No!" Harry replied, stepping forward, "This ends now!" He activated his glider, speeding forward toward Adrien, only to be knocked away by one of the goblins.

"You don't stand a chance against a city full of goblins, kid."

"I'm not just a kid! I'm an Osborn!" Harry struck them back, starting a fight.

Peter couldn't just stand and watch his friend be attacked like that. He shot a web toward Toomes, which landed on another goblin.

At the moment that he had his gaze on something else, Harry had been caught and pulled to Toomes.

Peter didn't catch the conversation, only concentrating on the fact that his _friend_ had been caught like that. "Harry! Let him go!"

"Take him," Toomes threw him to the ground as if he were nothing. "We've got what we need."

"But-" One of the goblins began, but was cut off.

"Destroy the lab. Everything will be much easier now thanks to the Osborns." They vanished through a hole in the ceiling of the lab.

"Harry," Peter spoke, pulling up his friend.

Harry shook his head, leaning against Peter for support. "This was all such a bad idea. Way too dangerous."

Peter opened his mouth to speak but closed it again as his spider-sense went off. He picked up Harry and ran to escape. If only...

"Harry?!" Felicia yelled into the communicator, "Harry!"

"You're working with _him?_ " Ghost Spider yelled, shooting another web at Electro.

She glowered at the hero before rolling her eyes and trying again. "Harry? Can you hear me?"

There were a few seconds of static and muffled speaking before Harry's voice came from the small device. "Felicia, I'm here. I'm alright," He coughed, "Both Spidey and I are alright, but they know. Felicia, _they_ know about the mech."

"Who? Harry _who?_ "

"In a moment, I have to-" The line went dead.

Felicia growled to herself as she jumped to the side, narrowly missing the thrown block and Electro. "What was that for?" She yelled, throwing her hands in the air.

"Wasn't us," Spider-Girl scoffed.

"Hey, Electro! I'm _shocked_ to see you!" Spider-Man laughed from his place on the other side of the opening. "Not really, it's just some electricity humor."

"How'd you know we were here?" Ghost Spider asked him, and the hero only shrugged.

"The spider-bots told me. Yeah."

"Then they're finally working right!"

"Where's Harry?" Felicia demanded, punching down one of the goblins.

Spider-Man turned to her suddenly. "Black Cat? What do you want with Harry-"

"Where is he?" She walked up to him, "Tell me or I'll-"

"He ran off, saying something about a mech? Toomes found out about-"

"Shit-" Felicia's thoughts were flipped around as the realization that _Toomes_ knew hit her. She spun on her heel and ran away, leaving the three spiders to whatever villain awaited them next.

"And she's gone now, too!"

"Spider-Man said he will be here with his... Friends within a few moments," Otto flicked at something on his shirt, a scowl on his face.

"Alright," Felicia stood with her arms crossed, her expression nearly the same as Otto's. "So are we going to explain how Toomes, of all people, knows about the mech?"

"Mech?" Otto echoed, "And am I being kept in the dark about that?"

"Isn't Peter coming with the other spiders soon? Can we all talk about everything then?" Harry rubbed his hands on his face, the green has returned to the spreading of the curse. He had deployed the healing method again moments ago in hopes of removing the color at all.

"Fine, but now I want to know about _Peter_." Felicia raised an eyebrow as Harry groaned.

"You weren't supposed to know!"

"They're here," Otto spoke up, effectively cutting off the conversation.

"Harry, I want to make sure the healing process is working well for you, come on," She grabbed his arm and pulled him off into an area farther into the hideout, not visible from where the spiders would be standing.

Felicia tapped at the device on his wrist, effectively fixing the healing system. "That should fix it," She sighed and leaned against the wall.

There was a moment of quiet as the door to the hideout opened and the spiders came in. The conversation could be heard and Harry reached up to put on his mask. Felicia stopped him.

"Peter is Spider-Man." Harry's slow nod had her sigh, her usually fluffy hair drooping around her face in a sad frame. "I should have known. I'm so sorry. That's why you didn't want me to get Spider-Man involved."

"I didn't want him to-"

"Worry. You didn't want him to worry," Felicia snorted, "If I didn't know about your little crush, I'd-" She began to laugh and Harry shoved at her.

" _Stop,_ " He whined and it only made her laugh harder.

"Who else is here?" Someone asked, obviously having heard the laughter.

Harry glared at Felicia. "I hate you."

"Love you too bud. Though, you can't deny you like him when you're that red," The grin on her face only made him grumble and he put his mask down.

He rounded the corner and found himself face to face with four spider people and Otto. Black Cat strolled out behind him, confident as ever. Harry could see through it, see the worry.

Otto stood off to the side, his face stoic.

"Otto is trustworthy enough to help me," Harry spoke, "I don't know about the rest of you, but we'll need as much help as we can get if we want to stop Toomes and his Goblin Nation."

"Harry!" Spider-Man laughed in relief, "Where did you run off to? What were you talking about?"

"I had to find out if Toomes got the information I feared he did when he accessed my goblin armor," He looked down at the ground, clutching his arm. "He knows about something- some things- he shouldn't know about." The mech was one thing, the curse another.

"About what?"

Harry looked at Felicia, who just sadly smiled at him. He took a breath.

"Somehow, he knew about my father's incomplete design already, but-" He pulled up a projection of the mech, "The invincible goblin mech."

"Invincible?" Ghost Spider asked skeptically, and Harry _wished_ that her doubts were true.

"My father designed a mech, which would not only be formidable by itself but when fully functional, it would have full control of any and all technology within its range. _Nothing_ could beat it."

"And you built this thing?" Spider-Girl cut in, her tone almost... Disgusted. "Why would you do something like that?"

"Harry? Did you really?" Peter's voice was full of disbelief and Harry quickly sputtered in defense.

"No- I didn't. I never even considered the mech, it's been sitting in Oscorp since my father's death, probably longer, collecting dust!" He glanced around at the group, "It was never finished, and-"

"You never thought to destroy it," Kid Arachnid stated lowly.

Felicia- Black Cat- stepped forward to come to his aid. "You think that's been at the forefront of his mind all this time? Our minds? First with his father's death, and then the curse, I don't think an unfinished mech was our first priority."

"Your first priority?" Ghost Spider retorted, stepping up to her.

"Harry got himself stuck in an apartment for half the time he was gone, bedridden, and I was running a company. So I don't really know _what_ priority it was," Felicia growled back, "None of it was his fault. Norman started it and he isn't here to face the consequences of those actions."

Ghost Spider withdrew, her eyes narrowed. She didn't say anything more.

"Bedridden?" Kid Arachnid spoke once more.

"Forget it," Harry hissed, "What I'm saying is that when Toomes accessed my gear, he found out the locations of the keys and will be collecting them. He's going to get the mech if we don't hurry up and try to get them before he can!"

"He'll destroy all of New York," Peter breathed.

"And probably so much more."

"Remind me why I have to be the one working with the villain?" Ghost Spider asked through the coms and Black Cat laughed.

"I'm just a humble thief, my lady!"

" _For_ a villain!"

"Would you two please focus on the task at hand?" Otto grumbled through his mic, "Are you at least getting to the point you've been assigned?"

"We're just trying to find a point of entry. Our key isn't far now," Ghost Spider huffed.

Spider-Girl's com crackled to life as she spoke, "Kid Arachnid and I are closing in on the second location. So far there hasn't been _one_ sign of any goblins. Not even any of their graffiti."

"Harry and I are getting to the final point. We're well on our way to taking care of this before any goblins." Peter said as he rounded the Spider-Shifter around a corner, the bike coming to a stop as they reached their destination.

Harry hopped off of it first, his boots hitting the ground. He scanned the area and huffed. "I don't see any goblins."

"Not that I'd be able to see any of these goblins, mind you," Otto scoffed, "If you do not recall, the cameras on the spider-bots are unable to see them."

"Well-" Peter began as he turned off the engine to the bike.

Harry began to tune out most of the conversation going on through the intercoms as he began to walk through the area. He knew exactly where the key was, but to grab it-

"Harry!" Peter tackled him, and a laser blast hit the spot they were just standing.

"What, Peter-"

"We are the Cyber Goblins!"

Everything went fuzzy.

"You're no longer a _true_ goblin!" Someone shouted, and when Harry looked up, everything came into focus. And not in the way it was supposed to be.

Silvermane had thrown him to the ground and now held his mask- which explained the odd look of things. The tech was no longer-

_Wait._

_His mask._

The mask that kept his secret hidden from the others- from Peter- was now in Silvermane's grasp. "This mask isn't yours to wear anymore!" He crushed it in his hand and Harry was helpless. He couldn't do anything about it.

Peter shouted something before ramming into Silvermane with the Spider Shifter. This gave Harry a window of time to stand and run off to the side, jumping over some crates to dodge any projectiles. Peter was at his side in a moment, the two of them hidden.

"My mask. They hit my mask with some kind of scrambler, and the tech is going haywire!" Peter hissed, looking like he was ready to claw the lenses out of the mask at a moment's notice. "Not only that, but the Shifter is destroyed too!"

"Can you contact Otto?" Harry attempted to look around the crate, but the firing only continued. "They destroyed _my_ mask and that means I am unable to contact _anyone."_

Peter nodded, placing his hand on his com. "Otto? Otto. Can you hear me?" They hung on in silence for a second. "No. My coms are down too."

"We're on our own, then," Harry grabbed Peter's arm and dragged him away from the battle.

"We have to get out there and fight," Peter was glaring at the goblins as he faced away.

Harry held the Spider-Man mask in his hands. He was supposed to be fixing it. Not watching Peter. He pulled his gaze back down to what he was working on, the tech his only task. Forget-

"Harry, did you hear me?"

"We need to get your sight back first, or you'll just be useless out there," Harry tried to ignore his friend's gaze. "I think I can fix it."

"It's good to have you back, Har."

"Yeah," He whispered, _but not for long..._

An uneasy silence reigned before Peter spoke up. "So what _were_ you staying in New York for?"

"It's a long story, and it isn't something I'd like to talk about right now."

"Does it have something to do with the scars on your face? And being bedridden, as _Black Cat_ so helpfully added earlier."

To be honest, this was the first time he had been face to face with Peter ever since the day all those months ago when he had the news of his trip. And it the fact that there wasn't a smile- or any sign of happiness, just a serious look- kinda made everything a lot harder.

"I said that I don't want to talk about it."

"Harry-"

"I'm _fine_ , Peter. Just-" He touched just the wrong thing on the mask with his tool and it shocked him. "Dammit."

"I'll just take it," Peter grabbed the mask and put it on, blinking a few times. "It'll work. It seems like it's working."

The two of them emerged from their hiding spot.

"Did you mess up my lenses even more than before or can the spider-bots see the goblins now?"

Peter was right. Every one of the Cyber Goblins were down for the count. And a good amount of spider-bots seemed to have done the job.

Most of them scattered when they were noticed, off to prowl some other part of the city. Perhaps to go help someone.

"Harry," Peter spoke suddenly.

He turned to his friend. "What?"

"The connection is a bit spotty, but I managed to get ahold of Otto."

"And?"

"Toomes has all three keys."

"Spider-Man? Spider-Man!" Otto called, "He's heading to the Oscorp Tower and I am unable to reach him. The two of them are moving to fast for my spider-bots to catch up!"

Anna Maria raised her eyebrow. "And what's the problem?"

"They're following Toomes."

She hummed. "Doesn't that mean they're close to catching them?"

"Knowing Toomes, he's using them or leading them into a trap! But with his coms so spotty-"

Anna Maria nodded and turned to the screens that she had been using to keep an eye on the other. "Have you gotten everyone?"

Toomes wasn't far now- Harry leaned his glider forward to hopefully catch up.

And then he was hit in the side by none other than Peter and they tumbled down to the top of a building.

A bomb exploded in the exact place that he just was.

"That was close," Harry breathed, standing. He stumbled a moment before activating his glider and he was off again.

Peter wasn't far behind.

More bombs were thrown at Harry as he attempted to catch up to Toomes once more. "Pumpkin bombs? You can't stop me with _pumpkin bombs!_ I literally invented them!"

A cloud of smoke was stirred up by the last ones thrown. When they finally got through it-

"He's gone. Where did he go?" Peter looked around, trying to locate the goblin leader.

A moment of fear struck Harry. "He must be in the building already." In reality, it wouldn't be much of a surprise. It was entirely possible.

"How?"

Harry took a breath. "My father was always adding secret entrances and pathways in his buildings. Toomes worked were for a long time. I wouldn't put it past him to know about at least one of them!"

Peter didn't respond, only staring up at him before nodding and following along. "But what if-"

Harry flew up to his father's office, his worry tripling as he noticed the window being smashed in. He opened the laptop that laid on the desk, tapping at the keys.

"Harry, what if maybe-"

"He has the mech already? I know." Harry didn't want to listen. The worry in his chest was making him think only about the mech- the mech- the mech-

The door to the lab opened and he ran in, to see that the mech stood where it always was, collecting dust.

"We beat him here."

Something exploded at their feet.

Harry's mind had fogged over again. As he opened his eyes, he noticed the fire that was eating the building around them.

"Harry!" Peter yelled, the crackling not enough to muffle his voice.

He tried to move, but something- foam- had him encased and trapped. "Peter?"

"Did you hear _any_ of that? Were you even listening?" His friend's worried face had him recoil.

"No. He got the mech, didn't he?"

"Yes. But the mech wasn't your father's design. Toomes was the one to came up with it. The invincibility and everything," Peter broke the foam that surrounded Harry, setting him free.

"My father, he stole it," Harry clenched his fists as he stepped out, "Of course he did."

"Do you still have the blueprints? Do you know anything about how it was built?"

"I have blueprints, yeah. Felicia does. If we can get ahold of someone, she can get the weaknesses and such. It's unfinished. There has to be a weakness." Harry bit his lip, "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright, Har-"

"He has five minutes until all of his mechanisms activate. We have to hurry."

Harry pushed forward, trained on the signal coming from the mech. He tapped at the screen on his wrist, looking for absolutely anything containing the blueprints. He had to have _something_ of it for Toomes to have found out in the first place.

He was growing closer to where Toomes was, he could see that, but he had nothing to use against it.

"Peter?" He called, after another failed attempt at finding the blueprint. "Can you Distract him while I find a place to attack!"

"Got it!" Peter swung down and around into a building, going full speed at the mech that was winding through the streets of the city.

Harry was close enough to keep an eye on them without getting hit. He tapped at another thing- why was his own gear so hard to figure out? It was normally so much easier. The only reason could be if someone tampered with it...

Oh.

Toomes.

He was about to smack himself when a sudden noise came from the screen. The garbled mess slowly became a voice.

"Harry. Harry!"

He almost lost his balance.

"Felicia?"

"Finally, I've been trying to contact you, and when I realized your mask was down, I had to take desperate measures."

"How did you-"

"I had Otto add this as a backup just in case. I trust you, but I also don't." He could hear the grin in her voice. Until, "He got the mech, didn't he?"

"Yeah, but Peter and I are doing our best to stop it," Harry looped around a building in order to find them, "You still have those blueprints, right?"

"Yeah, with all the parts that are marked as completed?" She replied.

"I'll need that."

"It's on paper. I'd have to bring it straight to you, Harry."

"That's what I need," Harry spoke, trying to type something out, "If we can find a weakness, I can create an encryption code and shut it down."

"Well, there's a spot right under the left wing, a port. You can gain access there."

He nodded to himself, grabbing an encryption device out of his pocket and starting to mess with his father's code- the one thing that was similar between all the stolen tech.

Harry rounded another corner and the mech was in sight. He waved at Peter before approaching it from behind. After one failed attempt and attack, he managed to land underneath the wing. Peter was soon beside him.

"I'm going to mess with the code and restrict him from most of his abilities."

A nod from Peter.

He crawled up the side of the wing, and as soon as he got to the port, he opened it up and plugged the encryption drive in.

"A good amount of his abilities are already restricted due to the mech not being completed, such as the neural control," Harry looked at his code, "But..."

"But what?"

"I can delay his control of all tech for a while, so we can try to find that code that kills it."

"Good-"

"Locking me out are you?" Toomes boomed before throwing them to the ground. "Give me that encryption device!"

As Harry hit the ground, something in his arm snapped, and he blacked out.

Peter managed to stop himself from hitting the ground too hard, but the same wasn't for Harry. His friend was quiet, unmoving. And the slight rise and fall of his chest was the only thing that revealed he was alive.

"You're hurt," Peter whispered to Harry as he pulled his friend to a hidden spot, "I have to make sure Toomes doesn't get to you."

He took the encryption device from Harry and waved it above him. "Oh Toomes, do you want this?"

And he ran. All he had to do was keep it away from Toomes until someone came in to help.

"Help is on the way," Otto spoke through the coms, although spottily.

As he was blasted, the other three spiders came in on the attack. "Ghost Spider!" He yelled, throwing the encryption device at her, "Take it and _go!"_

She gave him a thumbs up and left as the other two continued to fight.

He had to check on Harry.

Peter landed at the place he left Harry, rising to his friend's side.

"Harry," He whispered, and the sudden realization that Harry's breathing was almost nonexistent made his breath catch in this throat.

"Harry, please wake up," Peter clutched onto his friend, "Please, Harry. I love you."

Nothing happened.

Harry's few breaths were raspy, the green on his face so much more obvious in this light. His hair was matted, whether it be from his suit or the curse, or maybe just not taking care of it like he used to.

"Peter?" Someone asked and it wasn't Peter.

"Who's there and how do you know my name?!"

Black Cat emerged from a shadow, her face solemn. "Peter. I need to take care of Harry. You have to take care of that mech."

"How do you-!?"

She peeled off her mask and sighed. "I know because of the way he talked about you. I know because of the way he talked about Spider-Man. I know because it all makes sense now. Harry only confirmed it."

"You-"

"I'm Felicia. Harry's assistant."

"What's wrong with him?!" Peter yelled, and Felicia shook her head.

"Just take the instructions to Ock. Harry just needs rest, please," Her eyes were wide and pleading as she picked up Harry to the best of her ability.

"I can-"

"Get rid of the mech. Stop Toomes. I'll take care of him."

Peter took a step back. "Are you sure?"

Harry coughed and she nodded, the worried look on her face never left. "I've taken care of him for this long, I can handle him for a little longer."

As she ran off, Peter clutched at the paper she had given him.

_I love you._

The weight of those words seemed new, but when they had slipped out, they felt right. They still felt right.

He loved Harry.

He had a job to do.

"Felicia?" Harry found himself waking up on top of a building, his assistant, or well, friend, sitting beside him.

She looked at him in an instant, her eyes widening. "Thank god, you're alright! I had to manually reactivate your healing systems, they seemed to have died at some point in your little journey."

"Where are we?" He attempted to push himself up, but a sharp pain in his arm kept him from doing so. Felicia helped prop him up against a wall.

"Careful with that arm, Harry, I think you broke it," She licked her lips, "Well, we are far enough away from Oscorp and the mech. In my haste, I went the wrong way, and we're a little far from the apartment."

The building shook on its foundation.

"The mech!" Harry exclaimed, and she only smiled sadly.

"It's in the hands of the spiders now. You aren't in any condition to fight. And _someone_ has to look after you."

Harry looked off into the night, New York City's lights going out one by one. Toomes was doing what he had promised.

"If I'm careful, can we please see if we can do anything?" Harry watched her with pleading eyes and she groaned.

"You're going to be the death of me, you know that?"

"Do you know where they are?" Harry asked as they walked across the street, his arm being bundled up.

"Last time I knew, the mech was at Horizon," Felicia finished the tie of the cloth, "Peter should've already gotten the blueprints to Otto by now. The encryption device has been given to him as well, and our current hope is that they'll be taken care of."

"And if they need our help?"

"We're on our way."

Harry activated his glider and grabbed her arm. "Let's make sure they get that help sooner."

Peter shot a web and looped around the mech, hoping it could do at least something to slow it down. Horizon was in danger and there was little he could do except try to lead it away.

The encryption device was safely in Otto's hands, along with the blueprint that showed each weakness and unprotected port.

The mech being unfinished had its perks.

Now, the problem was that Toomes thought the device was inside Horizon.

It was a good thing that Toomes didn't know the device's true location. It was a bad thing that he was about to destroy the school.

Peter was _really_ trying his best to stop him.

"Take this!" Someone yelled as something exploded on the mech, and it obviously wasn't Toomes' doing.

As the smoke cleared, he could see Harry Osborn, Hobgoblin, in all his glory. He was smirking. Actually _smirking._

His arm was in a sling and a nervous-looking Black Cat was holding on to his glider, but he looked _triumphant._

And this was _Peter's_ Harry.

"Felicia, you ready?" Harry called, and she waved her encryption device in the air.

Otto was down on the ground, his encryption device in hand.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" She called and Harry flew over the mech.

"Now, and hurry!"

She dropped down onto the wing and made her way to her port.

Now it was Harry's turn to act. He needed to get the mech to land so Otto could get ti where he needed to be.

"Osborn!" Toomes' voice echoed around the campus and surrounding buildings, "I thought I had rid myself of you!"

Harry landed on the steps of the school. "Not necessarily, Toomes. I want to speak with you."

The mech turned and focused on him. "Speak with me? About what? You attempt and fail to damage my invincible mech?"

"I needed your attention, Adrian. I would like to join you."

Toomes was silent.

"I have something that you would like," Harry held up the encryption device that _he_ held, the fake one. The one that was a diversion.

"Why should I expect this to be true?"

"My father store my tech as he stole yours. Why wouldn't we be on the same side?" Harry bit his hip, "Unless you wouldn't want this..."

"Harry!" Peter called and he had to ignore it.

"Give it to me!" Toomes yelled.

"Then let me in!"

The door to the mech opened as it landed and Harry sighed in relief. He activated his glider and made his way up to it.

The screen on his write lit up.

Otto was ready.

Harry just needed to get their codes accepted in the command control.

He landed in the control room and Toomes threw a punch at him. Harry sneered, dodging and kicking his legs.

Toomes fell.

"I'm rather defenseless with my broken arm and yet you still try to get rid of me," Harry hissed, throwing the encryption device on the ground. "And you know what? I was going to try to reason with you, but no longer." He crushed the device under his foot.

Toomes yelled in frustration. "What are you doing?"

"What I should have done months ago when I was first holed up," Harry moved to the control center and looked for the key that would get rid of everything. He pressed it. "If you didn't know, my _friends_ opened up the window to destroy this thing. Your lovely mech is a ticking time bomb. I'd suggest you flee or go down with it.

So much happened as Harry flew out of the mech.

Toomes stumbled out of it and limped away from the fall, a worried expression appearing on his face as he hurried.

Black Cat jumped off of the wing, appearing out of the shadows. She grabbed onto Harry's glider, the two making it away safely as the mech exploded.

Otto wasn't as lucky.

He was blown sideways, hitting the ground rather hard.

Peter felt himself reliving Harry's fall from only hours earlier.

"Otto!" He called running over to his friend, "Are you okay? Otto?"

"Harry's plan worked, look," Otto whispered, holding onto his side.

"What did-"

"He's a good friend, Peter. I'm glad you have him."

"He's my best friend-"

"Best friend... You're lucky."

"But what about you, Otto?" Peter whispered, and the other didn't reply, his arm going limp.

"Otto?"

"We have to get him to a hospital, and quick."

"Is Harry here?" Peter asked as Felicia opened the door.

It had been a few days since the mech incident, so much work to do as Spider-Man, so much to help with fixing Horizon- Otto had signed Peter up for next semester- and of course, getting Otto into a hospital and such.

"He is," She nodded, "But he's not in the best condition."

"What do you mean? He was fine-"

"The suit could only heal him so much for so long, Peter," Felicia lead him into the apartment, "It's accelerated pretty badly in the past few days, and I don't know if he's the happiest at the moment."

"Oh," Peter rubbed at his arm and looked off to the side. A cat was staring at him. "Is that Spider?"

"Yeah," She laughed a bit, "He's protective, so be careful around him. Harry's in the bedroom."

Peter walked over to the door, pushing it open. Spider slipped past him and went in first.

"Best friend?" Harry rasped as Peter stepped into the room. It was too dark to see his friend's face, and he knew the shadows were hiding what was staining his face.

Spider's eyes reflected the light as he sat down beside Harry. _Protective, Felicia had said._

Peter bit his lip, "You've always been my best friend, Har. You always will be."

"I don't know if I should believe you."

He stepped forward, "And why is that?"

"You said otherwise," Harry's voice died off near the end of his sentence, growing weak.

Peter froze, trying to recall what exactly Harry was talking about. _Oh._ "Otto is different, Har- That wasn't what we were talking about."

"A better friend than I could ever hope to be," The other laughed bitterly, before falling back into the pillows. "Is Otto okay?"

"You're a good-"

" _Is he okay_ ," Harry repeated harshly, eyes glinting in the dark.

"He'll be alright, he's just recovering in the hospital," Peter spoke quietly, "I'd think Felicia would've-"

"Told me? She doesn't want me to stress. I know she means well, after all, she's been _my_ best friend for these lonely months," He ran a hand through his hair. "It's my fault for not destroying the mech when I had the chance. All of this could have been avoided.

"New York would be intact, Otto would be perfectly fine and healthy, and I'd be here rotting away as the world wished me to. But you wouldn't be worrying."

"Is that all this is?" Peter clenched his fists at his sides. "All this was to keep me from _worrying_ about you? You've known you were going to die and all you do is hide away and decide that you won't tell anybody. Not until it's too late!"

"Felicia and I were to find the cure. We were supposed to be able to save my cells and no one would ever know I was sick. And if not? I'd say that I'm learning my lesson-"

"Learning your _lesson?!_ Harry, your father. It's Norman's fault, not yours!"

"We didn't know that it would spread so quickly."

Peter wanted to hug his friend so badly. He wanted to just reach over from where he was standing and just tell his friend that maybe everything would be alright.

But he knew that the chances were slim. That Harry had waited far too long to look for help and there he was, laying on his deathbed.

Spider was glaring at him. The cat was glaring at his _namesake_.

"Why did you name him after me?" Peter whispered, and Harry's expression softened.

"His eyes reminded me of yours."

Peter wrapped his arms around his friend, laughing slightly. "Surprised you didn't name him Peter, then."

"Nah, he's much more intelligent than any Peter _I_ know."

"Rude."

Even if it didn't turn out alright in the end, this moment was perfect.

"Peter, I have a question for you," Felicia had stopped him on the way out the door, her hand on his shoulder. "It's about Harry. Kind of."

"Yeah?" Peter blinked, "What is it?"

"You have your spider powers. The sticking to walls, the strength, all of that fancy stuff."

"And?"

"You have advanced healing, is that correct?" Her eyes searched for something in him and he didn't know how to respond.

"Yeah, yeah I do, but I don't see how-" He took a moment and then narrowed his eyes. "You want to give Harry spider powers? All the research spiders are dead..."

"No," Felicia blurted, "Not necessarily. He already dangers himself enough."

"Then?"

"I was thinking about something along the lines of using your blood."

Peter had to run the statement over in his mind a few times, the idea of his blood being used to save Harry- "How? What-"

"I found out that when Spider-Man's blood- _your_ blood was used on Norman, it _healed_ the curse. Your blood healed Norman's curse," She held out the papers that she had been holding, which displayed data. "He wrote it all down himself and-"

"It hurt him more than it healed him, though."

"One, he had the spider mutation at that point, as it says here, and the fact that we can test on samples first before doing anything makes it a lot nicer on him." She looked toward the bedroom with a sigh. "It might be our last chance."

"It could take a while to perfect, you _know_ there's going to be issues with it at first, whether you like it or not." Peter didn't want to shut down a chance to heal Harry. He wanted Harry to live, but the last time he had done something like this-

"We have some of the smartest minds on our side. You, your friends, Anna Maria, and Otto whenever he is healthy enough to help out. I may not be as smart as the rest of you, but I at least know what I should do." Felicia sighed, "My job is to take care of Harry and help him. But it's not just part of my job at Oscorp anymore. He's my friend, like my brother even. I need to help him."

"Yeah. Alright. For Harry," Peter turned the doorknob and walked out of the apartment. When he turned back, he locked eyes with Spider.

He saw Harry.

"I've got it!" Otto's triumphant yell woke Anna Maria up and she raised an eyebrow at him.

"What did you get?"

"The formula for how we need to bend the DNA in Peter's blood to work with Harry's!" He pointed down at the mess of work on the hospital bed, "Most of the powers have to be diluted enough to have the healing prevalent enough and so the cells won't die on us."

"You mean-"

"If this test works, Harry will very likely be on his way to becoming healthy again."

"Harry?" Peter whispered, creeping into the bedroom, Spider only slightly in the way.

The cat had somehow accepted that he was no danger to Harry. Although, he had a feeling that the animal had a strong distaste for him.

"Peter?" Harry spoke up, the last month taking a huge toll on him. The broken arm had taken up all of his body's energy, the bone hardly even on it's way to mending.

"Otto found something that might cure you. We've been working very on it. It healed your father, but we've done our best to remove any adverse effects." Peter crouched down at the side of the bed so Harry could see him.

"Do you mean this cure could make me grow a second head and decide to eat only corn flakes?" Harry chuckled dryly.

"I don't know where you got that idea, but I can assure you that _those_ won't happen to you."

"Thank goodness, I was getting worried there."

"You might not like where it comes from though, Har." He spoke quietly and Spider perked up at the thought of danger. A glare was sent his way.

Harry grew silent. "You said it healed my father."

"Yes."

"Your blood."

"It'll work this time." Peter licked his lips, "You aren't a spider monster, and we've done so much more testing. It's a good chance of helping you."

Harry's breathing was shallow as he contemplated the decision.

"Let's take your chance, Pete."

Upon taking that chance, Harry began the slow road to recovery. The blood managed to remove most, if not all, of the cursed cells and healed his body.

Scars from the curse still remained. Most had vanished, but the few that remained, such as the one on his neck, lost their green and dangerous hue and stayed.

Unsurprisingly, other than Spider, Peter was the one to be by Harry's side the most. He would sit with him and talk about his day or the latest group of people that he saved while he was Spider-Man. Anya, Gwen, and Miles would come in often, usually with stories of their own to tell.

And it didn't take long for the masks to come off in the group, either. Gwen as Ghost Spider, Miles as Kid Arachnid (everyone except Felicia knew that one already), Anya as Spider-Girl, Felicia as Black Cat, and of course, Peter as Spider-Man. Felicia held her ground that her _villainy_ was only done for her job and she was finally done. Otto had already proven his worth.

Harry leaned on the railing of his balcony, the might air a welcoming chill. New York City was bustling as it always had, the lights illuminating the whole area. Most of his strength was back and he felt freer than he had in such a long time.

He took a deep breath and held out his hand, wondering where he'd be if it wasn't for any of his friends. Felicia, _Peter_ , and even Otto. He smiled, laying his hand on the scar on his neck that would forever mark his survival of the curse.

"Hey Harry," Peter stood beside him, elbowing him lightly.

"When did you get here?" Harry asked, and his friend laughed.

"Been here for a bit, Har."

"Guess I didn't know."

They stood there, together. The only sounds to fill the silence were of the city, cars, and trucks, and everything.

"Felicia finally told me how she found you and me when Toomes almost... Killed me." Harry spoke up.

"She did?" Peter sounded surprised, nervous.

"Did you actually tell me that you loved me?" Harry asked softly, and at Peter's small nod and blush, he smiled. "Well, I guess I should tell you something?"

Peter looked confused, yet hopeful. "What?"

"Felicia is going to make fun of me for this. It's not like she hasn't already, but-"

"What?" Peter repeated, "Come on."

"I love you too, Pete."

They shared a kiss that was just them. Together.

And everything was alright.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you all so much for reading!
> 
> please kudos and comment, and if you wanna talk at all, check me out on tumblr @ nalanoola :)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Art for Defence is Paper Thin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26562886) by [Flubi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flubi/pseuds/Flubi)




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